Monday, October 08, 2012

31 Days of Halloween - Day 8 - Movie 1

The rest of my family wanted to watch Beetlejuice (1988), so we did. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis play a couple of recently deceased ghosts who find their cozy home being moved into by a family that they don't want living there. Unable to scare them way on their own, in desperation they turn to an unstable bio-exorcist for help.

Like many Tim Burton movies, there is so much in this movie that connects with me that I feel that I should love the movie as a whole far more than I do. It's a fun movie, with a great cast of actors and characters, fantastic visuals and darkly amusing ideas, but as a film that's clearly meant to be a comedy, it's not all that funny. For me, the element that seems to keep this movie from really shining is Beetlejuice himself. He has a couple of good moments, and is visually interesting, but his character is obnoxious and crude, but not in a way that makes him endearing or amusing. I don't know how much of this is the fault of the screenplay and how much of it is Michael Keaton's performance. I found that whenever he came on screen that the movie became far less enjoyable than in the scenes without him.

As it is, Beetlejuice is an okay movie that had the potential to be something really good.

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About Me

John Rozum is best known for writing supernatural themed comics aimed at adults such as XOMBI, MIDNIGHT, MASS., THE X-FILES, and THE HANGMAN featured in THE WEB, or for writing supernatural themed comics for children such as SCOOBY-DOO or THE SECRET SATURDAYS in CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK.
He's written many other comics as well as magazine articles, television episodes and even trading cards. He also does occasional illustration work, and accepts commissions.